The End Natural Disasters, Manmade Catastrophes, and the Future of Human Survival
by de Villiers, MarqEdition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2010-03-30
Publisher(s): St. Martin's Griffin
Other versions by this Author
List Price: $17.27
Rent Book
Select for Price
New Book
We're Sorry
Sold Out
Used Book
We're Sorry
Sold Out
eBook
We're Sorry
Not Available
How Marketplace Works:
- This item is offered by an independent seller and not shipped from our warehouse
- Item details like edition and cover design may differ from our description; see seller's comments before ordering.
- Sellers much confirm and ship within two business days; otherwise, the order will be cancelled and refunded.
- Marketplace purchases cannot be returned to eCampus.com. Contact the seller directly for inquiries; if no response within two days, contact customer service.
- Additional shipping costs apply to Marketplace purchases. Review shipping costs at checkout.
Summary
Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, pandemics, cosmic radiation, gamma bursts from space, colliding comets, and asteroids - these catastrophic events have become a common part of our culture. Are natural calamities now more probable, and more frequent? Are things getting worse? Are we part of the problem? If so, what can we do about it?Award-winning writer Marq de Villiers examines these questions at a time when there is an urgent need to understand the perils that confront us, and to prepare for - and perhaps prevent - the disasters when they come.The Endis a brilliant and challenging look at what lies ahead, and at what we can do to influence our future.
Author Biography
MARQ DE VILLIERS is a journalist and the author of thirteen books including Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource, Sahara: The Life of the Great Desert, and Windswept The Story of Wind and Weather. Born in South Africa, he now lives near Port Medway, Nova Scotia.
Table of Contents
| So What's the Problem? | |
| Doomsday As a State of Mind | p. 3 |
| Catastrophe in Human Life: The Probability Theorem | p. 18 |
| Context | |
| Our Perilous Neighborhood: Understanding Cosmology | p. 31 |
| This Plastic Earth: PlateTectonics and Wandering Continents | p. 45 |
| Our Ever-Changing Climate: Ice Ages Now and Then | p. 63 |
| Fragile Life: The Conundrum of Mass Extinctions | p. 75 |
| Peril by Peril | |
| The Perils Without: Comets and Asteroids | p. 97 |
| Earthquakes | p. 118 |
| Volcanoes | p. 136 |
| Poisonous Emissions and Noxious Gases | p. 161 |
| Tsunamis | p. 172 |
| Floods | p. 185 |
| Vile Winds: Tropical Cyclones and Tornadoes | p. 208 |
| Plague and Pandemic | p. 221 |
| What Is to Be Done? | |
| Making Things Worse: Acts of God and Acts of Man | p. 247 |
| Making Things Better (i): Mitigating Natural Calamities | p. 275 |
| Making Things Better (ii): Undoing Human-Made Calamities | p. 294 |
| Postscript: Can We Do It? Will We? | p. 321 |
| Notes | p. 325 |
| Bibliography | p. 339 |
| Index | p. 342 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |
An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.
This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.
By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.
Digital License
You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.
More details can be found here.
A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.
Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.
Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.